Federal Police: Up to 50 could face charges for environmental fraud.

Alex Rodrigues
Reporter Agência Brasil

Brasilia – Up to 50 people suspected of defrauding environmental licensing processes in Rio Grande do Sul may be indicted for environmental crimes, active and passive corruption, ideological falsehood and money laundering. This is the expectation of the Federal Police (PF) agents who are participating in Operation Concutare, launched in the early hours of today (29).

The operation is the result of investigations initiated in June 2012 to dismantle a fraudulent scheme set up by public servants, businessmen, and consultants working with environmental control agencies. According to the Federal Police, employees of the environmental secretariats of Rio Grande do Sul and Porto Alegre, the Henrique Luiz Roessler State Environmental Protection Foundation (Fepam), and the National Department of Mineral Production (DNPM) granted environmental licenses and authorizations for mineral exploration in record time, without considering technical and bureaucratic criteria. In exchange, they received sums that could reach R$ 70.

In addition to the temporary arrest of 18 people, 29 search and seizure warrants issued by the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region were executed. Among those detained are the Secretaries of the Environment of Rio Grande do Sul, Carlos Niedersberg, and of Porto Alegre, Luiz Fernando Záchia. As the case is under seal, the Federal Police did not release the names of the suspects. The alleged involvement of Niedersberg and Záchia became public after the state government and the Porto Alegre city hall confirmed that the two were temporarily removed from their positions because they were mentioned in the case.

During a press conference held late this morning in Porto Alegre, the superintendent of the Federal Police in Rio Grande do Sul, Delegate Sandro Luciano Caron de Moraes, and the delegates directly involved in the operation confirmed that employees of Fepam and DNPM are also being held at the superintendency. They also stated that, during the searches, a "significant amount of money" and a weapon were seized, in addition to computers and documents.

According to the superintendent of the Federal Police in the state, the scheme worked as follows: business owners who needed environmental licenses or authorization to explore for minerals sought out consultants who, knowing the scheme, bribed corrupt officials willing to disregard technical aspects or to expedite the granting of authorizations, thus benefiting the business. The crime, defined in the Penal Code as extortion, gave rise to the name of the operation.

The penalty for this type of practice ranges from two to eight years in prison and a fine. The Federal Police still don't know how many authorizations were granted irregularly, but between 30 and 40 administrative processes are being investigated. In one of these requests, the environmental license was granted on the same day it was requested. "A record in Brazilian public administration, without a doubt," said delegate Sandro Luciano Caron de Moraes.

"We are concerned with promoting accountability for everyone involved, from public servants, through intermediaries, and all the way to the business owners who pay these amounts and who, in fact, are the true promoters of this scheme that is harmful to society," said the superintendent.

"After various isolated investigations and inquiries, investigators observed that everything pointed to an organized corruption network for the illegal and fraudulent obtaining of environmental licenses and mining authorizations," he detailed. "They realized that there is no way to effectively repress crimes against the environment without dismantling this gang involving public servants who, for their own interests, caused damage to the environment," said Caron de Moraes, assuring that the Federal Police did not investigate public bodies, but rather some specific public servants.

Editing: Denise Griesinger